The company, formerly known as Newsweaver, rebranded in 2017 as Poppulo. Headquartered in Cork, the firm also has a Boston office and a location in London.

Impressive client bank

Poppulo offers specialist software for internal communications, initially focusing on internal email management. Some of its clients include Aon, Telefónica, Honda and GSK.

Poppulo allows large firms to plan, target and monitor the impact of internal communications on a single platform. It recently launched a mobile app that offers its tools, including analytics, from a single source.

In a statement, Poppulo CEO and founder Andrew O’Shaughnessy noted that quality communications tools are becoming increasingly important in the business world. “The companies and organisations who are winning know how absolutely crucial internal communication is, not only for employee engagement but also in terms of recruitment and retention – and, ultimately, the bottom line.”

The investment will specifically fund further research and development, as well as the expansion of its sales and marketing across EMEA and the US.

Employee engagement is a growing area

SGE managing director Jonathan Klahr said: “Employee communications and engagement is tremendously important for business success, and we view it as a market with enormous potential – a market led by the vision, ambition and innovation of Poppulo.” The venture capital firm is based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, with another office located in Israel.

Last June, SGE invested €20m in Dublin-based salon scheduling platform Phorest. As well as Phorest, SGE has made investments in OrderMyGear, XebiaLabs, Evive Health, Graduway and HighRadius, among others. The addition of the major investment in Poppulo marks a continuing interest in European companies from major US VC firms.